A lawyer told the Daily Star Sunday the thief produced the pictures during his trial.

But instead, the judge gave him the maximum sentence.

The lawyer said he heard the story from an ex- prisoner. “I’m 100% convinced it’s true,” he said.

The claims have emerged as police probe an alleged high-flying paedophile ring said to include ­prominent politicians.

It operated from a brothel at Elm Guest House in Barnes, west London, in the early 1980s.

Visitors to the brothel have said photos would often be taken during orgies.

And Operation Fernbridge, the police probe, has been told a snap of another ­Cabinet minister in a sauna with a naked 14-year-old boy was stolen from the home of Carole Kasir, the madam who ran the place.

Two days after the burglary in 1990, diabetic Kasir died of an apparent insulin overdose – but pals say it was murder.

Both men’s names feature in a dossier seized by Operation Fernbridge.

The lawyer, who spoke to us on condition of anonymity, said: “I was told this story in April 2004 from a man I knew, a former prisoner.

“He told me about a career criminal who targeted the rich and famous.

“After one raid he found he’d grabbed this envelope containing pics of an ­instantly recognisable man, a senior politician, performing oral sex on a boy.

“Then, in the early to mid 90s, the burglar was caught and seemed to be looking at a couple of years behind bars.

“So he showed the photos to his lawyer – who took it away. The next thing he knows, the judge throws the book at him.

“Now so many of the threads appear to be tying in with Operation Fernbridge.”

Do you know the burglar? Contact us in confidence on 07899 060953 or email ­sunday@dailystar.co.uk.